Indiana Jones and the Secret of the Sphinx

Indiana Jones: Prequels #12

by Max McCoy

It is the most coveted of all ancient artifacts. In it is written the history—and the fate—of every human being. And he who owns it writes his own destiny. Now Indiana Jones follows a trail of danger, magic, and archaeological mystery through the war-torn Orient, from Rangoon to the Egyptian desert, searching for the secret underground hiding place of the all-powerful Omega Book. But with a beautiful woman seeking her missing magician husband, and a vengeance-crazed Japanese spymaster hot on his heels, Indy is running out of time. If the Omega Book falls into the wrong hands, not only his own fate but the fate of the world will be at the mercy of a madman bent on writing humanity's final chapter!

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Action, Science Fiction, Thriller

291 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Max McCoy is an award-winning journalist and author. He’s won awards for his reporting on unsolved murders, serial killers, and hate groups. In addition to his daily newspaper work, Max has written for publications as diverse as American Photographer, True West, and The New Territory. He’s the author of four original Indiana Jones adventures for Lucasfilm/Bantam and the novelization of the epic TNT miniseries, Into the West. His novels, including Damnation Road, have won three Spur awards from the Western Writers of America. His novels, Hellfire Canyon and Of Grave Concern, have also been named Kansas Notable Books by the state library. He's a tenured professor of journalism at Emporia State University, in east central Kansas, where he specializes in investigative reporting and nonfiction narrative. He's also director of the university’s Center for Great Plains Studies. His most recent book is Elevations: A Personal Exploration of the Arkansas River, from the University Press of Kansas.

Reviews

[Benjamin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final Indiana Jones prequel book to be written by Max McCoy is certainly his best (of the four he wrote) and I would say in the top three of the whole batch of 12 original prequels. There is still one more prequel book to go, written by Steve Perry but it was released ten years after this one as an attempt to reinvigorate the series but evidently fell flat.

This novel is a straight forward Indiana Jones novel, very reminiscent of the original Indy film trilogy, and does not try to make Indy into some different kind of character. It takes place in 1934 which is just one year prior to the events of “Temple of Doom” and two years prior to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” so it is easy to picture Harrison Ford rather than Sean Patrick Flannery as I felt more inclined to do with the early prequel books. This time around, circumstances force Indy to go in search of the Staff of Aaron (the one Moses used to call for the the plagues, etc.). His adventures take him from Shaanxi Province, China, to the deserts of Iraq and on into Cairo, Egypt. Since Max McCoy is the author, you can be sure there is plenty of accurately portrayed vintage aircraft involved. Accompanying Indy is a mother and daughter magician act who provide some nice illusions to assist Indy in his getaways. It's also good to see old friends like Sallah who foreshadows some of the events of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

I thoroughly enjoyed this action-adventure yarn. I’m an Indiana Jones fan from the very beginning and I found this novel to be a good rendition of the character and faithful to the series.

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max McCoy is my favourite of the Indiana Jones novelists, and Indiana Jones and The Secret of the Sphinx is a fine example of why.

More than any of the other authors, who have been good in some of their outings, McCoy honours the characters. He does not fall prey to the cheesy sentimentalism that makes Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade painful for Indy purists; instead, he makes sure that Sallah is a smart man rather than a foolish middle eastern stereotype, and he does the same with Marcus Brody, ensuring that he is an honoured professional rather than a boob.

Some of the new characters McCoy introduces suffer for not having a background that we all know instantly, but these characters always fit into the story well and they do serve a purpose that is connected to Indy (and that's what you want in an Indy adventure).

If you're looking for a fun read now that the Crystal Skull has rekindled your Indy-curiosity, The Secret of the Sphinx is perfect for you.

[Ryan Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had never read one of these before but since my son is obsessed with Indy I figured I’d give it a try. It was fine for what it was, but I wouldn’t say it was all that close to the films. It’s 90 percent mystery and 10 percent action, so it lacks the rush you see on the big screen. No car chases, no gun fights, no brawls. Indy’s dialogue feels off at times too. But it did have plenty else you’d expect from an Indy story—globetrotting, villains, a McGuffin, supernatural and biblical powers, a love interest (kind of). Interestingly there is a whole section of the book where Indy is messing around with a crystal skull and it was much better than the film Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was nice to revisit this character in a time when he was at his best (this is set right before Temple of Doom) and I think the author did a fairly good job, though ultimately it’s hard to capture Spielberg’s non-stop action in novel form.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having read, "To Reign in Hell," a book based off of Star Trek, and finding that it was good, I read this book, thinking it would be another good, nerd-ish read. Oh, and spoiler alert.

Nerd-ish, yes; good read, a resounding no.

This book fell apart. I can deal with random myths that nobody has ever heard of, even though half the fun of Indiana Jones is how close to reality he manages to bring these myths. What I CAN'T deal with are stupid characters, awful plots, inconsistencies with the movies, and (practically) copying scenes from the movies into the books. And yes, all of those things happened.

For one, there was no girl for Indiana to like. There was a 15-year old girl that, obviously, couldn't be a love interest for him. There was the girl's mother, who was looking for her husband, so no love interest there. Half of the stuff he does is made funny because of a girl, and there was no chance for that in this book. LAME. Oh, and they were annoying characters. The woman was WAY too knowledgeable about what to do. Right. Like she'd been to a town in the desert where they worship Satan and just happened to be the one who could control the Staff of Aaron and heal folks.... Riiiiiiiiight. Her daughter was way too learned about those types of things, too. She was just plain annoying.

Another big no-no was how Indy was portrayed. Like I said above, he lacked a lot of his charm because of a lack of a girl in his life, but there was a lot more wrong with him in this book. He was never really Indy---He was either too knowledgeable about something or incredibly DUMB. That's not Indiana Jones. That's glorified fanfiction. This book was a large fanfiction. Pathetic! There was nothing commanding about him at all because the only thing the author could think to make him say were smart-aleck responses (or he put in a serious response when Indy would have made a joke).

I'm not even going to talk about the plot. It's bad. If you don't believe me, read the book yourself.

The author practically copied a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark: Salah's children came to Indiana and rescued him (or, at the least, they brought him to Salah... Not sure if they legitimately rescued him). Whatever. There's no originality in having the same thing happen twice. It wasn't the movie copying the book---the book figured that if it worked in the movie, it would be nostalgic for Indiana Jones fans. NOPE. It came out corny.

While it was kind of entertaining to read, this book failed. At least it's getting me closer to my book-reading goal!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite of the Indy books. I would love to see this one made into a movie.

[Jennybethleahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun, fast read. It reads much like an Indiana Jones movie (the good ones, not Crystal Skull). It's fun for a fast read.

[Cole Thorpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Indiana Jones and so I was very excited to get into this book. It was pretty much what you'd expect - some pulpy action and adventure with mean bad guys who get their comeuppance. It wasn't amazing by any means, and definitely wasn't as good as the movies, but it was easy and fun.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 sterren- Nederlandse hardcover

[Eric Shoemaker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost as good as any of the best Indy films, which says a lot. Looking forward to reading more Indy books from Max McCoy!

[Joe Ferber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not horrible and kind of enjoyable in parts but would I recommend? No. It reads like what you get out of chatgpt. Good to finish a book that isn’t 1300 pages tho

[Robert Fenske · Rating 2 out of 5]

The final Indiana Jones story by McCoy. It started off extremely strong but turned into a subpar story.

I did enjoy how Indiana Jones was portrayed as some what vulnerable (yet still the action hero we know and love) in this novel. Tortured and battered he is one the run for majority of the novel that had a lot of great tension.

If you've taken the time to read the previous Indiana Jones books by McCoy you'll be rewarded with a nice prologue where Indy finally ends the curse that has been plaguing him since the "Philosopher's Stone" book. It didn't really add too much to the story but it was nice to see it come full circle.

The biggest letdown to the story was the antagonists, Imperial Japan. The villain, a Japanese spy, is poorly written who only seeks revenge against Jones. The villain doesn't even know about the artifact Indy is after until 3/4th of the way through the book. This just made the antagonist seem like an amateur despite his title and power within the Japanese army.

The second issue was that the powerful items Jones is after just never really pays off. The novel deals with two artifacts, the Staff of Aaron and the Omega Book. The staff, despite its power is only needed to find the real prize, the Omega Book. Neither of these show up until 3/4th of the way through the book and just seem to be wasted potential. The artifacts in the Indiana Jones universe are known to kill the antagonists in gruesome and horrifying ways. And yet that was missing from this book.

[C.K. Burch · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not quite as good as Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone, Secret of the Sphinx actually moves along at a good clip and contains enough adventuring and true Indy moments to make one feel satisfied by the end of the adventure. Now, I say end of the adventure versus end of the BOOK, because the end of the book is really an end to Max McCoy's continual shoehorning in of the Crystal Skull that first appeared in Philosopher's Stone. While it was effective in Philosopher's Stone, and mildly amusing as an intro in Dinosaur Eggs, the fact that McCoy has continually been forcing the subplot into this mini-series of four Indy adventures has finally gotten to the point of annoyance. Indy's adventures with the Secret of the Sphinx are interesting enough to keep the book moving, but a lack of a distinct villain who presents a threat, and the lack of an interesting conclusion to the book mar the full entertainment value of the read. While not nearly as useless as Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth, Secret of the Sphinx comes close, and while I enjoyed it for the most part, the nonsensical ending which has nothing to do with the main plot left a sour taste in my mouth, with no reason to return to this tale to read it again

[Ron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story follows the pattern of the movies as well as the other Indy books I've read -- a mini-adventure at the beginning, then the main adventure. Now, I love Indy -- he is one of my favorite movie heroes. But there are two big problems with this book. First, the opening in this book is preposterous (I tried reading the book once before and had to set it aside because the opener was so ridiculous). Then, the main adventure -- while largely standard throughout -- turns equally preposterous at the end. I have read other people complain about the extreme ridiculousness of the ark of the covenant in "Raiders" and the cup of Christ in "Last Crusade" -- to say nothing of the aliens in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" -- but the actual secret of the Sphinx in this story tops them all. At the end, I was dumbfounded that this story ever got published.

[Patrick Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read. The opening sequence is fun, exciting, and hilarious. Indy talks out loud often, since there's no sidekick, so that's a bit odd, but the rest of the book was enjoyable. Sokai was a great villain and I wish he was in more of the book. In fact, the book moves a little too fast, rushing from place to place, and not developing the characters as much, but I still enjoyed this book. Having Sallah in it was a good move, and the two new females were also well done. The Sphinx barely has anything to do with this book, and the Omega Book was a bit corny: I wish McCoy had stuck to one of the historical artifacts he mentions in his closing notes than creating a composite new one. Still, fun and I wish there were new adventures of Indy coming out that I could enjoy.

[Mike Futcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth and final Indiana Jones book from author Max McCoy, Secret of the Sphinx is unfortunately also the least of them. It has the flaws of its predecessor, Indiana Jones and the Dinosaur Eggs, in that it rushes through its plot and character moments. However, it compounds these flaws by trying to cram in too much; in the less than 300 pages of this breezy novel, Indy quests for four separate artefacts across three continents, and it's too much to be able to invest in any one of them.

The opening act sees Indy in Japan-occupied China raiding an emperor's lost tomb – it's quite well done and perhaps the best part of the book, invoking a tense atmosphere and traps in the tomb itself and establishing a serviceable villain in the Imperial spymaster Sokai. However, by a rather tenuous link we then find ourselves in the company of a couple of travelling English magicians and negotiate a typhoon, an island leper colony and an Indian black magic practitioner in Calcutta. These are good adventure-serial trappings – there's even a flying boat, which is always nice – but nearly half the book is done, and we're only just starting the main plot.

Two artefacts are sought simultaneously: the biblical Staff of Aaron mentioned in Exodus and the 'Omega Book' in which all of man's past, present and future is supposedly written. The first is particularly interesting, clearly reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but is almost pathetically resolved: they are just given the Staff by some Yazidis they happen to bump into while on the trail of their first clue. The second, the Omega Book, becomes the focus, but develops an absurdity in that it is the Japanese villain on Indy's tail, backed by Japanese soldiers – who are presumably in uniform, even though they are now in Egypt. It's halting and underwhelming storytelling, and quickly resolved. There's then an extended final act following a fourth artefact, the Crystal Skull, which is unconnected to the main plot and seems to be tying up a plot point from McCoy's earlier Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth (a much superior book, by the way).

It is too much for such a light book to cover, and consequently none of it nestles in with the sort of Saturday-afternoon ease that the films created so effortlessly. Even if comparing the book to the films is unfair – though we wait to see what The Dial of Destiny will do for the reputation of the franchise when it's released in a couple of months – Secret of the Sphinx also compares unfavourably to Max McCoy's previous Indy books. There's a lack of patience in the storytelling and, most disappointingly, no actual clues or mysteries or riddles for Indy to solve at any point. It's all just sort of railroaded along at speed, like that mining-cart set-piece in Temple of Doom.

Nevertheless, despite that lack of patience in the storytelling, there is still storytelling on show here. An Indiana Jones adventure is strong enough simply by being an Indiana Jones adventure; globe-trotting, chasing ancient artefacts and punching fascist villains can never not be fun, even if it's not always good. In truth, I'm not the right person to review Secret of the Sphinx: I love without reservation treasure hunts and lost cities and anything of that nature, and find it impossible to dislike the book. More objective readers, however, would certainly mark it lower.

[Benji's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to McCoy's run on the iconic character. While the book was good, there were some things I didn't like about it. One of then being Indy stating that he had never been married before. The Rob MacGregor novels clearly had him married for a period of time and whether or not Indy was just casually lying about being married or the author of this one didn't bother to read the previously released novels, is beyond me. However, I'll excuse that comment, as maybe Indy didn't want to pour that info out on someone he'd just met.

All in all, I enjoyed McCoy's run. They were fun, adventurous, Indy acted more as he does in the films, yet strangely these books all revolved around a crystal skull artifact. No, not the one from the movie, but one that sets a curse on anyone the crystal skull holder loves.

A lot of people seem to think these books were released to build hype for Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, but considering the first of these prequels was released back in '91, I don't see how that's possible.

So how do McCoy's books compare to Rob MacGregor's? For one, there's a lot less typos. That being said, McCoy's novels are also weighed down by being popcorn novels--read 'em and forget 'em in the coming weeks. They're still good reads, but I'd say they were more for people who just want a little more of Indy, while waiting for something new to take over.

But back on MacGregor's work, his stories were more grounded and you could really see that branch from his times as a WWI Veteran to the archaeologist you know him as today. They were more mature, violent and really allowed you to grow with him in the process. I think I enjoyed his books more than these, but that's not at all saying these aren't worth checking out. There's a lot of cameos, some background info, etc. on the characters from the films that a fan could really love. Not to mention the Adventures themselves are pretty fun (as they were always meant to be).

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

A book I got from my sister at some point, this one not a novelization from one of the Indiana Jones movies. Despite that, it still wasn't very good.

For one, the title is pretty much irrelevant. It took nearly 117 pages because the sphinx even entered the picture and then, a handful of pages later, that bit was already done. So the title is simply there to draw people in. False advertising. So, if you want a story that revolves around Egypt or the sphinx, definitely look elsewhere!

What Indiana Jones is actually after is actually quite nebulous for most of the book and then, after you finally get it hammered out, it's then all over super quick so that the last bit of the book can deal with something completely separate from what the rest of the book as dealt with. It was really bizarre and felt like a random short story had simply been tacked onto the end of the first novella. That's what connected they were.

As for what most of the book was about, a lot of it seemed typical Indiana Jones and was interesting, but very, very predictable. There is no suspense as a result. Whole sections felt lifted from the movies and repeated, simply in a different part of the world.

The author also had difficulties deciding on his genre. It's action adventure with some historical mystery for most of the book, then veers sharply into fantasy for a bit, before delving into pure science fiction for a few pages, before shifting back to action adventure. While I love books that fall between two genres, that only applies when both are acknowledged from the start, not when one comes in to fix an otherwise unfixable situation, only to then vanish again, never to be seen again in the book.

Definitely not worth it. There are far better books out there that deal with ancient secrets and mythical objects that actually have to get their act together, rather than relying on movies to be understandable

[L.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a summer beach read? Or something to eat away time while traveling, stuck on a plane, or just sitting in an elegantly decorated old city hotel lobby waiting for Sallah or Marcus Brody to show? Go no further than Max McCoy's quick but enjoyable Indiana Jones stories. He knows his characters well and introduces interesting protagonists and allies too.
I actually can see and hear Harrison Ford on a screen as I read through the chapters of this book- that is a good thing. The action is fast paced as it should be for a book based on this character and plenty of globe trotting as well. The supporting characters are very well suited for this story and the 'bad guys' are believable albeit over-the-top. The settings are interesting but I admit that is the only weakness overall as the book hurriedly moves from one location to the next (and pretty much follows the formula of the movies).
For what this book is intended to do, entertain fans of the Indiana Jones films, it does it very well.

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCoy knew this was his swan song and he pulled all the stops for a rip roaring tale. He nails all of the characters seen from previous films. Other characters are also very well written. McCoy has an unlabeled prologue and epilogue that adds layers to the storytelling that defines that Indiana Jones lives the life of adventure.

McCoy likely made the story too complicated as the story has a few spots of incongruity. One scene involving someone speaking to a crowd in English near the Chinese and Russia border while others are speaking other languages is poor narrative. There’s also inconsistencies involving an island scene, also.

Nevertheless, McCoy, with his writing, presents the heart and soul of the Lucas and Spielberg creation.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.

[Ethan Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, fun novel that has all the elements and story beats of the Indiana Jones films, with a lingering sense that it could be improved upon if only it just had a bit more. There isn’t quite the clearest sense of an arc that McCoy wants to at least suggest, with most subtle hints into Indy’s past and character being left either unacknowledged or vaguely concluded with no real satisfactory resolution, leaving the story feeling mostly like an outline with 80% completion. The main MacGuffin of the story doesn’t really feel like that much of a priority or item of interest until just halfway through the story, which, up until that point, was several chapters of Indy running into his usual shenanigans. But, as a fan of the films, I nonetheless had a good time reading this on the plane to pass the time until my next adventure.

[Kiril Valchev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Няколко месеца след събитията в "Indiana Jones and the Hollow Earth", намираме Инди тарашещ поредната гробница. Потърпевшият този път е Цин Шъхуан- онзи с теракотените юнаци. Вилнеещата по това време из Китай, японска имперска армия, слага край на "археологическата" му експедиция и го хвърля в затвора. В следващите няколко седмици, Индиана успява да избяга от килията, забърсва майка и дъщеря илюзионисти, потопява два кораба, озовава се на остров с прокажени, прекосява азиатския континент и акостира в Кайро, при старото си приятелче Салах. По пътя посещава и язидско (езидско?; йезидско?) селище, от което си тръгва със сопата на Аарон (баткото на Моисей)- първата магическа пръчка.
П.П. В епилога изповядва мъките си, но не на свещеник, а на накой си г-н Уанстоун.

[Blake Coats · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I didn't quite enjoy this as much as my favorite Indiana Jones movies (1 & 3; which is admittedly a high bar to compare against), this was a very fun and relatively quick read! I would highly recommend this book for any Indiana Jones fans as it gives you exactly what you would want in an Indy story - fun action/adventure, fun characters, traveling across many destinations, ancient artifacts, being chased by villains, and an overall solid plot.

While this is one of the later books in the Indiana Jones prequels, I did read it first and what I missed out on from previous books didn't really affect the main story. Although, there is an epilogue that seems a bit out of place to the main story as it is related to previous stories.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Indiana Jones came on to the scene looking for the Ark of the Covenant, then it makes sense to end this series with him looking for the Staff of Aaron, its companion piece. I feel like this book comes closest to capturing the feel of the movies out of all the novels in the series. Sallah makes an appearance (though there's no history given as to how they know each other), and the religious overtones of the story help make the story feel familiar. Technically, there's a thirteenth book in the series, but it was published ten years after this one, presumably to cash in on the revival of the franchise with the Crystal Skull movie. I'm not interested in reading that one.

[Malcolm Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having previously read Indiana Jones and The White Witch and hated it, I had low expectations for this one. However, my fears were misplaced as there's a pretty decent Indiana Jones story here. If anything, it's perhaps too similar to the Indiana Jones formula for the movies, but it did make for a fun adventure. A worthwhile addition to the franchise. My only negative is that as the 12th book in this series it does have some call-backs to previous books that I've not read, but none of that was plot-related so it didn't affect the story.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good volume in a really well done series. This time Indy ends up in Egypt by way of China and India. The object of his search this time is the Omega Book, which is the chronicle of every person that's ever lived or will live. He is accompanied by a gorgeous female (there's always a few gorgeous females in these stories) magician searching for her husband, with her daughter in tow.

Some vile villains and some interesting happenings make this a fun read. Too bad there's only one novel left in the series.

[Mark Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only 3 stars?! Don’t let that scare you away. Reading the book as a big Indy fan I’d give it 4 stars. As an adventure book for anyone to read I’d only give it 3 stars. The story is very intriguing and fits perfectly within the Indiana Jones universe. Character and backstory wise I think the book would of benefited from being longer. It would of given more depth and interest to what was happening and with those involved. A fun read as you keep up with Dr. Jones.

[Endangered · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't feel this was as terrible as some claimed. It's a quick Indy story with quite a bit of action. The ending was pretty weak and I felt as though the most exciting parts were the shortest. More detail than necessary at times and it's loaded with excessive cat and mouse games that would get a little boring and pull you away from the story.

The redeeming quality was that it read at a cadence similar to that of the movies. Fun, yet predictable story.

[Les Hopper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sorry to reach the end of this original run of Indiana Jones prequels. They are certainly cheesy, pulpy, and a mixed bag, but I thoroughly recommend them as a guilty pleasure for any Indiana Jones fan...or indeed anyone after an adventure romp.

This book had some excellent MacGuffin, and featured Sallah and, albeit to a lesser extent, Marcus Brody as a tie in to the original film.

The Einstein cameo was a little odd!

[Mikey Correia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't love it, but I enjoyed it. I did not realize it was part of a larger story - and that this was the last book in that story, ha! Maybe I would have enjoyed it more realizing some of the story elements were referencing actual past stories. Maybe I should read books 11-1 in that order and enjoy my own "Indiana Jones and the Memento Experience."

I found this at a thrift store and look forward to paying it forward at a local Little Free Library.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1999, Indiana Jones and Secret of the Sphinx was the last Indiana Jones book released until 2009. That was when more books came out in the aftermath of the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Like some of its' predecessors, this books lays the foundation for events that will transpire in the Indy movies. But it's also a great book in its' own right. I loved it!